The Price of Revenge
by Pepes
Summary: When Aang discovers who was really behind Gyatsos murder, he is consumed by the need for revenge so great he loses himself to it, pushing away those he is closest to. To make matters worse, there are two new benders unlike anything the world has ever seen


**Authors Note: Okay, this is how it works. I saw the preview for Spider Man 3 at the movies, and decided that it would be fun to do an Avatar version of it. **

Summary: When Aang discovers who was really behind the murder of Gyatso, he feels a strange new feeling; a deep lust for revenge. With his need for vengeance, Aang loses himself to it, pushing away those he cared about most in the process and hurling himself into a world of mysteries and myths. To make matters worse, he is about to encounter two new benders unlike anything the world has ever seen.

Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar, the last Airbender, and I give credit for the story line to Spider Man 3.

Setting: The gang is in the library buried in the desert.( And, Appa doesn't get stolen)

Aang absentmindedly ran his eyes across the sides of the many books, not really paying attention to the titles. Sokka was in the aisle next to him, skimming through a book on firebending, for reasons that Aang couldn't think of. He stifled a yawn, grabbing the closest book and pulling it from the shelf. Immediately, a cloud of dust attacked his lungs and he began choking and coughing for a good minute before he could quite himself. Sokka looked at him through the area where the book had once been, raising an eyebrow in question.

"I'm fine."

Aang said, plastering one of his large, toothy smiles onto his face. He glanced down at the title of the book, running a finger across its smooth leather cover. Seeing that it was only a book on gardening, he put it back with an exasperated sigh. Nothing in the library was helping them, and he didn't like being underground any more then Appa did. Growing more bored by the minute, Aang leapt into the air, landing onto of one of the bookshelves. He looked around, smiling once more when his steel gray eyes rested on Katara. She was sitting in a teal couch, her nose buried in some book he couldn't make out. With a mischievous smirk, Aang leapt from one bookcase to another, sliding from the top and sneaking behind her.

"Whatcha reading?" He asked, leaning into her ear. Katara gave a small yelp of surprising, jumping almost an inch off the couch before looking over at him.  
"Aang! You scared me!" She cried, but he only laughed.  
"Sorry about that." He apologized, still smiling. Katara couldn't stay mad at him for long, and he knew it.  
"Its fine. I'm reading a book about the history of waterbending. Has Sokka found whatever he was looking for?" Aang shrugged his shoulders in response, unsure of what Sokka had found. Still, he couldn't keep his eyes off of Katara for even a second. Lately, things had been going great for him, especially between him and Katara. It seemed that she might even like him, but he was too nervous to ask. She got up, setting the book onto a wooden table in front of the couch. Suddenly, a surprised expression came over her face.

"Oh Aang, you have to see this!" She said, grabbing his hand and leading him horridly towards an aisle in the back of the library. Aang followed happily, blushing every time he looked down at their intertwined fingers. Katara stopped, and Aang read through the titles of the books in front of them before releasing her hand in surprise. The entire section was dedicated to airbenders and their race, the temples, and history. Amazed, he slowly raised a hand and ran it across the many covers. Most of them were very dusty, and his fingers left trails as they passed over. He grabbed the nearest one and pulled it out, ignoring the dust that followed as he excitedly read the cover. _The Four Air Temples _. He opened the book, eyes darting from word to word as he trailed through its contents. The book held a surprisingly large amount of information from all of the temple, especially the Southern temple. Stilling holding the four temples book, he reached up and grabbed another. _How to be an Airbender_.

One by one, Aang lifted the books and read their titles, not even knowing which one he wanted to read more. Finally, he pulled out one last book. Its cover was flourishing and beautiful, a perfect mixture of bright colors and pictures of various airbenders. In elegant letters, the title was spelled out across the cover. _History of the Air Nomads_. The book seemed perfectly preserved, with no dust on it at all. He smiled, then eagerly opened the book to the table of contents. He began skimming over the words, to excited to really absorb any of them. Suddenly, Sokka's urgent voice called from a few rows away.

"Guys, come on!"

Aang glanced up from the book, then started running towards Sokka with the book in hand and Katara close behind him.

"What?" Katara asked, approaching her brother with an annoyed expression.

"We gotta get out of here!" Sokka called, dashing past her with a scroll and a piece of parchment in hand. Aang and Katara exchanged confused glanced before looking ahead in time to see the giant owl that kept the library flying towards them, an angry expression on his face.

"Time to go!" Aang said, gripping the book tightly as he tore off. Momo flew past him, brushing his furry tail against Aangs check before dashing up the hole in the library. Aang leapt and grabbed the rope, looking up to see Sokka shimming upwards. He felt something tug and the bottom, and looked down with a worried expression, but felt a wave of relief as he saw Katara following them. Aang leapt out of the tower, then reached down and grabbed Kataras hand to pull her out.

"Run!" Sokka shouted as the earth around them began to rumble. Still gripping Katara and the book, Aang dashed after Sokka as the tower of the library began to sink into the ground. Sokka tripped as he ran forward, falling face-down into the sand. However, the earth finally silenced and everything was still. Aang and Katara both released a breath they had been holding, then turned to see Sokka spit out a mouthful of sand.

"Hey guys, find anything?" A familiar voice called. The trio looked over in time to see Toph and Appa. Aang glanced over at them, but if was Sokka who spoke first.

"Maybe, maybe not." He said, patting his bag which was bulging from all sides. It didn't take much to realize that he'd stuffed it with books.

"What did you take?" Katara asked, and Sokka made an unsure expression.  
"Well, I don't really know. When that owl went ballistic, I just grabbed the closest books and left." He admitted, earning a giggle from his amused sister. Before Sokka could say anything, Aang jumped in between them.

"Okay, lets just get out of this desert." He said, airbending onto Appas back and picking up the reigns. Sokka and Katara exchanged one last sizzling glare before climbing up his tail, followed by Toph.

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Sokka grumbled unhappily, his legs having gone stiff from kneeling over the bare spot in the ground for so long. In his hands he clutched a stone and a piece of flint, striking them together but creating nothing but sparks that refused to catch onto the wood. Frustrated, he threw the rocks down and stood up, stretching his cramped legs.

"Hey Aang, now would be a great time for you to become a firebender." Sokka called to the avatar. The young airbender smiled nervously, knowing that sooner or later he would have to learn to firebend. He stepped over towards the wood, and looked up in time to see all of his friends staring.

"What?" He asked, but no one responded. Instead, they nodded encouragingly towards the wood, and Aang struggled to contain his laughter at their behavior. He turned towards the dry wood, trying to gather up all of the energy in his body, before raising his hand. He struck it forward, and much to his dismay, nothing happened. Unhappily he repeated the acts, with no result. Growing frustrated, he threw his hand forward with surprising intensity. Suddenly, a wave of sparks flew from his fingertips and landed on the wood, resulting in a roaring blaze. Aang released a triumphant laugh, and Katara stared on amazed.

"Congratulations Aang, your a firebender!" She said happily.  
"Yea, like that's something to be proud of." Sokka replied. Katara turned to look at him, scowling.  
"Just a minute ago you were suggesting that he became one!" Katara responded, and her brother merely shrugged in response. She groaned in frustration as his sheer stubbornness, turning her back on him in disgust.

"Hey Sokka, lets take a look at those books you grabbed." Aang suggested. Sokka grabbed the heavy bag and dropped it onto the ground before them, spilling its contents in the process. Sokka leaned down and grabbed the nearest one, while Katara began shifting through the titles.  
"Don't you want one?" Katara asked Aang, who was making his way to Appas saddle.  
"Umm, nah, I already have one." He said, eager to begin the reading The History of the Air Nomads.

"Great, yay, this will be fun. Lets all sit around and read books!" Toph said with sarcastic enthusiasm. No one seemed to be paying attention, for by now everyone had begun pouring over whatever they had grabbed. The earthbender gave an annoyed sigh, flipping onto her back on the cold ground and folding her hands behind her head.  
"Fine by me. Stay up as late as you want, but we're still getting up early to train." She announced while stifling a yawn. Soon, the only sound was the crackling of the fire mixed with Tophs light snores.

As the hours passed, and the moon rested well past them, both Sokka and Katara had fallen asleep on the ground. However, Aang was still consumed by his book, to into the literature to put it down. For some reason, he felt like was connected to the book. It made being so far away from his people easier. By then he had finished reading about the Northern, Eastern, and Western temples, while skipping over the parts about the fire nation invasions. With a deep breath, he turned the page, revealing a large drawing of the Southern Air Temple. Aang ran his fingers across the crisp paper, running them along the temple walls as if he could be taken back there. Sky bisons were visible sleeping or eating, and a few flying, while children played airball and older monks gathered to speak with one another. Aang felt a pang in his heart, feeling a greater desire then what he was used to to return to the temple. He wished that he could just leap into the drawing and go home, back to his own time and place. Maybe then he could have prevented the war.

Pushing the thoughts aside, Aang turned the page and read the words slowly, as if he was afraid he would miss something. All of the information brought him back to his days at the air temple. As he read over bending maneuvers, Aang smiled as the air scooter was described, followed by an illustration of a tattooed boy riding one. He quickly devoured the book, until reaching the end of the Southern temple section, where the invasion was described. He took a deep swallow, closing the book and setting it down, not wishing to read it. Aang looked around the dark forest, fiddling his thumbs while glancing from the book, to the trees, then back to the book. He bit his lip, then hastily picked it up and flipped to the back. Shifting uncomfortably, Aang began reading through the articles of the invasion, but it was the one towards the end that disturbed him the most.

_While the invasion of the Southern Air Temple was the last to occur, it took the longest for the fire nation to claim victory. That which is believed to have been the last surviving airbender, before his murder, was Monk Gyatso, former mentor and guardian of the disappeared Avatar Aang. Gyatso fought bravely within one of the tents, cornered by a company of soldiers, and defeating many of them. However, Admiral Leng succeeded into slaying the monk-_ Aang couldn't read anymore. Tears had formed in his eyes, along with a burning sensation of rage and sorrow swelling inside him until he felt like he was about to burst. Next to the column was a picture of Gyatso, his expression hard and determined yet exhausted, battling a tall, muscular man in red and black Armour. The mans dark black hair was cut around his ears, his helmet laying discarded on the ground, while his piercing golden eyes stared into the picture with such intensity Aang could not tear his gaze away. Taking a deep gulp, he put the book down, his hands trembling.


End file.
